Tesco Bank appoints new chief underwriting officer

Tesco Bank has appointed Laurent Matras as it’s new chief underwriting officer, according to a statement released today (1 November 2023).

The company explained that Laurent’s new role would “play an important part” in developing Tesco Insurance’s data, pricing and underwriting strategies.

Founded in 2010, Tesco Underwriting was collaboratively formed by Tesco Bank and Ageas UK to underwrite car and home insurance policies.

However, in 2021 Tesco Bank completed the acquisition of Ageas’ stake in Tesco Underwriting. This enabled Tesco Bank to create an end-to-end insurance business.

At the time, Tesco Bank announced that its car and home insurance polices would be underwritten by Tesco Underwriting.

This replaced the external panel of six insurers that Tesco Bank used, alongside Tesco Underwriting, to manage its car and home book.

Laurent will report to Gary Duggan, Tesco Bank’s chief insurance officer and Tesco underwriting chief executive.

Experience

Laurent has joined from Axa China, where he was chief finance officer for two years.

He was also a member of the insurance executive committee in the UK and China.

Prior to this, Laurent held roles in pricing, analytics and underwriting during his time as manging director for Axa’s UK retail businesses.

Duggan commented: “I’d like to welcome Laurent, who joins us at an exciting time for our insurance business.

”He brings a breadth of experience and technical expertise that will be invaluable for our growth plans.

“He is focused on creating the best possible customer outcomes by using data and insight to truly understand the needs of our customers and will bring a fresh focus and thinking to our strategic direction.”